After breakfast, Garm and Tris set out to conduct an inspection. Cain, who was left behind, was ready to go explore the city. He went to inform one of the servants.
“I’m planning to head out into the city for a walk.”
An eight-year-old child wandering about without a chaperone was naturally problematic, so two knights were assigned to be his guards. A carriage was prepared for him, but Cain refused, since he wanted to explore the city on foot.
“I’m not planning on going very far, so it won’t be necessary.”
Cain wanted to visit the unique marketplace this city had. He strolled through the streets, guided by his guards. The city had a lot of companies and inns. The different regions of the kingdom all had a company stationed here in order to handle imports from the Visus Empire.
The Visus Empire was rich in gold, and they exported many luxury products such as goldsmith jewelry and extravagant tableware. Companies would acquire the products here in this city, then sell them to nobles and wealthy citizens within the kingdom.
The Visus Empire was a militaristic country, famous for having many soldiers. However, due to conscription, there weren’t enough young people working on the farms. As a consequence, the Visus Empire had to import leather and food from other countries.
The marketplace was roughly thirty minutes away from the mansion at Cain’s leisurely walking speed. The layout of the market itself was rather simplistic, but the entire space was surrounded by a roughly ten-foot-tall fence. Only those with the appropriate permits were allowed inside.
The knights accompanying Cain showed the guard their permit, and they were allowed to enter.
“Since I’m already here, I should buy a souvenir for Reine.”
The market stalls were all lined up in a row. Cain made his way through the marketplace while perusing the unusual foreign goods. Even the stores operating on the kingdom side had unusual products, such as fruits that resembled pineapples that could only be found in the southern region, or leather acquired from monsters hunted in the Forest of Monsters. Since all the stores offered different wares, simply looking through the stalls was quite fun in and of itself.
One of the stores sold high class jewelry, so Cain decided to check it out to find a souvenir for Reine. The store offered gold and silver necklaces and rings adorned with gemstones.
“Take a good look, how about it, young man? These jewelry products were made with gems mined in the Empire. I recommend this one over here.”
The merchant dangled a gold necklace adorned with a red gem from his hand, showing it to Cain. It indeed looked rather refined, but Cain didn’t think it suited Reine very well. It would probably look more appropriate on a grown woman.
As he looked through the store’s offerings, he noticed something that caught his eye. It was a silver chain with a small, but pretty, blue gemstone attached to it. It was well made, but also simplistic. It was a necklace that wouldn’t look out of place on a child.
Cain picked up the necklace and called out to the merchant.
“Excuse me, I’d like to buy th—”
“Aah!”
As Cain was about to hand the necklace over to the merchant, someone next to him suddenly screamed. He looked toward the source of the sound and saw a pretty, young, blue-haired girl about the same age as him. She had long hair that reached her chest, and her clothes were distinctively better than what commoners wore. The girl was staring at the necklace in Cain’s hand.
“I wanted that!” The girl exclaimed. Her hands slightly trembled as she glared at Cain with upturned eyes.
“Oh, you wanted this? You can have it. It’ll go well with your hair, so I’m sure it’ll look great on you.” Cain said with a smile, directly vocalizing his immediate impression.
“What?! Ah!” The pretty girl was dumbfounded. Moments later, her face flushed beet red. “Y-you won’t win me over that easily!”
Cain was at a complete loss as to what the blushing girl was talking about.
“Huh? I don’t really understand, but you want to buy this, right? Excuse me, this girl would like to buy this.”
“All right! That’ll be two silver coins. Thank you and come again!”
The merchant smiled as he watched the conversation between the two children. The blushing girl took two silver coins out of a tiny bag with her trembling hands and handed them to the merchant. The merchant put the necklace into a small bag and handed it back to the girl. The girl hugged the pouch tightly to her chest.
After confirming the transaction, Cain went searching for a similar necklace amidst the goods for sale. As he checked the necklaces one by one, he sensed someone staring at him. He stopped what he was doing and looked over. It was the girl from earlier, standing there, staring at him.
“What’s wrong? Still planning to buy something else?”
The girl responded, “Y-you let me have this necklace, so I’ll pick one out for you in exchange!”
The girl stood next to Cain and began to pick up necklaces and examine them. She selected one of them.
“Th-this would look good on you!”
“Huh?!”
Cain had been planning to buy a souvenir for Reine, but it appeared the girl thought he was buying something for himself.
“What’s the problem?! I picked this one out for you! Are you saying you don’t like it?!”
“N-no, that’s not what I’m saying, but…”
The necklace the girl was holding had a silver chain and was adorned with an elliptical deep blue stone. Cain accepted the necklace the girl was forcing upon him.
“How passionate! Do you want that necklace? It’s also two silvers. Thank you for shopping here!”
The girl had a triumphant look on her face, and Cain no longer felt it was appropriate to mention that he was looking for a souvenir for his sister. He took out two silver coins from his pocket and handed it over to the merchant. After the merchant handed him a small pouch, the girl came over to Cain’s side.
“I picked it out for you, so it will definitely look good on you! Put it on! Right now!”
Since the slightly aggressive girl had told him to, he took the necklace out of the pouch, unfastened its fixture, and tried to put it on. However, he wasn’t sure how.
“Oh, fine. I’ll put it on for you.” The girl looped behind Cain and fastened the fixture for him behind his neck. “Done!”
Cain wasn’t able to see behind his back, but seeing her triumphant look, he simply nodded.
“Thank you…”
“You’re welcome! So…can you help me put on mine too?”
“…Okay.”
Cain accepted the necklace from the girl, walked behind her, and fastened it for her.
The girl turned around with a wide smile. “So? How do I look?”
Cain answered with a slight blush. “…You look good. It suits you. It matches the color of your hair. It’s really pretty.”
The girl reacted to Cain’s extremely direct phrasing. “P-pretty…?” The girl covered her face with her hand. She was blushing even more than before.
“Oh, right. I’m Cain von Silford. What’s your name?”
“Cain, is it? I’m Liltana von—no, just call me Lil.”
“Young Miss! I’ve finally found you! Everyone, she’s over here!”
Lil’s introduction was interrupted by a group of merchants who seemed to be looking for her.
“Oh no, they found me! Cain, right? I’ll remember that! See you again sometime!” Lil waved at Cain before fleeing like the wind, immediately disappearing amidst the crowd.
“Just what was that…?” Cain mumbled as he watched the merchants chasing after her, “She said her name was Lil, right?”